Who has driven a Porsche PDK back to back with a regular manual?

First of all, all the ‘Get of my lawn’, ‘Auto’s are for Bob Costas’, ‘shift your own gears’ types - SHUT THE BERKLEY UP BEFORE YOU START!

OK, Leslie's comments about the PDK in the latest 911 turbo got me thinking, then I noticed looking up Boaster and Cayman info that the 7 speed PDK in the 981 cars is constantly faster than the 6 speed. What are these things really like to drive?

Like most of the ‘get of my lawn’ types I grew up believing the only reason to own an auto was if you had a limb missing and couldn’t get a prosthetic that would allow you to operate the controls. That’s still the case for the small capacity low torque engines I grew up with coupled to hideous 3 speed mechanical auto’s with crappy torque convertors. But modern larger capacity engines, with good torque, electronically controlled with a fluid flywheel or electronically controlled mechanical clutch are really really good. Yes, I still enjoy rowing my own gears, right up until I’m stuck in stop and go traffic or spending all my time on city streets with stop lights turn lanes and intersections galore, then they become a chore real fast.

So, accepting that losing the left hand pedal isn’t the curse of the devil. What is the Porsche PDK box like back to back with the regular manual in basically the same car? What is the stop and go like? Are they smooth on takeoff. Can you launch hard without having to engage some kind of launch control etc. I Assume that you can select either a full auto mode where you drive it like a regular fluid flywheel auto, or you can drive it manually in flappy paddle mode. In the later how does that work. Do you have to select each gear every time. What happens if you coast to a stop sign in 3rd while in manual mode? When you go to set off while it bog down or will it say ‘I know I’m in manual mode, but the numb nuts behind the wheel forgot to down shift me so I’ll help him and not make him look like a fool’

Inquiring mind(s?) want to know.

I believe that Woody is the man you are looking for. He had a Panamera as a courtesy car with the PDK, and that had him looking at selling his manual Cayman and his race car (Miata?) and replacing them with a PDK.

mtn wrote: I believe that Woody is the man you are looking for. He had a Panamera as a courtesy car with the PDK, and that had him looking at selling his manual Cayman and his race car (Miata?) and replacing them with a PDK.

I believe this is me.

How's this for relevant? I drove my six speed Cayman S to the Porsche dealership, left it there and took home a PDK Panamera 4 for four days. Then I returned the Panamera, got in to my Cayman and drove home. I have spent the subsequent three weeks trying to figure out if I can get enough from the sale of my Cayman and 911 to buy a new Cayman with the PDK.

I have a few other things playing into the mix here, but the important part is that PDK is so good that it can make a true hater of automatic transmissions want one very badly.

I will add this:

It took me more than two days to figure out that I loved it. Also, I hated the automatic stop/start feature, but you can easily override it.

Woody wrote:

mtn wrote: I believe that Woody is the man you are looking for. He had a Panamera as a courtesy car with the PDK, and that had him looking at selling his manual Cayman and his race car (Miata?) and replacing them with a PDK.

I believe this is me. How's this for relevant? I drove my six speed Cayman S to the Porsche dealership, left it there and took home a PDK Panamera 4 for four days. Then I returned the Panamera, got in to my Cayman and drove home. I have spent the subsequent three weeks trying to figure out if I can get enough from the sale of my Cayman and 911 to buy a new Cayman with the PDK. I have a few other things playing into the mix here, but the important part is that PDK is so good that it can make a true hater of automatic transmissions want one very badly.

Wow, that's amazing.

Please tell is what the PDK is like to actualy drive? What makes it better? How does it drive in manual mode Vs full auto etc?

I have driven both enough to know that PDK is just drop dead better then manual in 99% of all the situations that I put it in. For speed, shift time, downshifting ability and just plain usability. Porsche seems to just get these things right, even the tiptronic S which I have only driven in the turbo 911 is down right scary fast.

If it was a weekend car I would still go with the manual. If I was going to drive it every day PDK is the only one that I would look at. For track or autocross use you could would be at a disadvantage with a manual.

Woody - let the GRM collective know if you are selling the 911. The market has certainly come up nicely in the last couple years.

On the PDK, do you just "put it in drive" and go? Or do you still do shifting, either with the lever or paddles?

crxmike wrote: Woody - let the GRM collective know if you are selling the 911. The market has certainly come up nicely in the last couple years.

There are three people that I need to contact before throwing it out to the general population.

mtn wrote: On the PDK, do you just "put it in drive" and go? Or do you still do shifting, either with the lever or paddles?

For automatic mode, you just pull the lever back from Park. To shift manually, you move the lever left from D. Then you can either shift with the lever (forward to upshift, back to downshift) or use the paddles on the steering wheels. There are up and down paddles on both sides at 9 and 3. I liked the shift lever better.

The advantage is that shifts, up or down, are lightening fast and perfectly matched. You never have to lift off the gas.

There is absolutely no negative aspect to removing your left foot from the equation. Nor do you sense any lack of control or involvement.

I'd say to go test drive one at 5:15PM on a weekday somewhere busy and see.

If getting a PDK sports car, adding the Sport-Chrono package is highly recommended for driving enthusiasts...And for resale desirability.

From what I can remember, at stop there is still a little bit of idle crawl like with a traditional automatic. As you push the gas, there is a slight hesitation as the clutch fully engages. The sensation is a bit different, but realistically is no worse than an automatic running up against the torque converter from a stop, let alone riding in a manual transmission car. We typically just don't notice manual clutch engagement and shift time on manuals because we're too busy doing them ourselves. Off hand, I have no idea how it handles trying to launch with some extra revs before releasing the brake, while not in launch control (requires sport-chrono package) mode.

The push upshift/pull downshift can be a little counterintuitive, but works great once you get used to it. If you want to spend the extra cash for the right side upshift/left side downshift dual pull paddles you can. Each has both pros and cons relative to the other, depending on the situation and personal preferences.

I'm pretty sure the programming won't make you look like a complete idiot as you come to a stop in manual mode without downshifting. However, it will not upshift for you in manual mode.

The PDK Owners Manual goes into detail on most of the other intricacies of how it operates, with a lot of comments related to what it does or does not do during more aggressive driving scenarios.

I do have one question about PDK & similar setups. When in manual shift mode, will it stay in the selected gear until you shift out of it? Or will it automatically overide and shift for you? I've seen the improvements with A/T over the years. A/T's with the right improvements have been faster in drag racing for years. Shifting quicker than most people (even experienced) can shift a manual. But manuals have had their place with racer crowd because of its ability to stay in the selected gear until manually shifted out. I don't have any experience with PDK type transmissions but the manually shift mode A/Ts I have been around will overide and shift when you don't want it to.

My question about the PDK and other similar transmissions has to do with maintenance and durability. How often are services and how much are they? How long would the clutch(es?) last and how much to replace them?

Sonic wrote: My question about the PDK and other similar transmissions has to do with maintenance and durability. How often are services and how much are they? How long would the clutch(es?) last and how much to replace them?

Almost indestructible. Porsche has a demo 991.1 911 Turbo that they use for owner track days that allegedly has 300+ full launches on it and it has lived its entire life on the track and its still kicking with tons of miles. They consider the new PDK a non service item.

I would suspect that since the computer is doing the rev matching that the life span of the clutches would be pretty close to maximized.

A few years ago I drove a friend's 2008 (?) BMW M5 with a dual clutch trans. The only gripe I had was parking. Trying to find the right amount of throttle to pull up to the concrete parking block without hitting it was a challenge. If I wanted to pull forward just an inch or two I had to be careful because too much throttle and it would leap forward. Probably would have been a non-issue with more practice but I'm curious about the crawling ability of the PDK. When pulling into your garage for example, what's it like?

^D.

I'm glad to hear a few folks are coming on board with these types of transmissions. I was old school too and only owned manual cars save for the mini van until last year. I can honestly say I'd have a hard time going back.

wearymicrobe wrote:

Sonic wrote: My question about the PDK and other similar transmissions has to do with maintenance and durability. How often are services and how much are they? How long would the clutch(es?) last and how much to replace them?

Almost indestructible. Porsche has a demo 991.1 911 Turbo that they use for owner track days that allegedly has 300+ full launches on it and it has lived its entire life on the track and its still kicking with tons of miles. They consider the new PDK a non service item.

Bill Caswell has a video he did recently where they did 50, yes 50 straight controlled launches to show the system doesn't overheat or have problems with repeated abuse.

If I made a bit more money a new Cayman S with Sport Suspension and PDK would be in my garage.

z31maniac wrote:

wearymicrobe wrote:

Sonic wrote: My question about the PDK and other similar transmissions has to do with maintenance and durability. How often are services and how much are they? How long would the clutch(es?) last and how much to replace them?

Almost indestructible. Porsche has a demo 991.1 911 Turbo that they use for owner track days that allegedly has 300+ full launches on it and it has lived its entire life on the track and its still kicking with tons of miles. They consider the new PDK a non service item.

Bill Caswell has a video he did recently where they did 50, yes 50 straight controlled launches to show the system doesn't overheat or have problems with repeated abuse. If I made a bit more money a new Cayman S with Sport Suspension and PDK would be in my garage.

I have seen some 14' Cayman S out there in the high 50's lately with PDK. That has got to be one of the great sports car deals going right now if you want newish.

I am enamored with the Turbo's and deep down its not a 911.

A couple of years back, Porsche did a press event just for the PDK cars--which included track time at Barber. It was like the things were reading our minds, even in the D mode.

In reply to David S. Wallens:

You are the bazillionth journalistic type person who has said that... Maybe there is something to the Porsche Dqhnsoigjhqejnmpgh'kwgweathogkjbPJohiqoqcvbdhwFAGIQJvdbpahtsjrwigwfpihg5328ifrhuowteqgrwoj

I also ran a PDK Boxter Spyder at Porsche Parade a few years ago. For the autocross, I put the transmission in Sport Chrono (or whatever) and gave it a go. The course started with a very tight turn--basically turn and accelerate. The PDK banged a shift at just the right moment--on my very first run. The car was awesome.